One of Ottawa's tallest trees comes down

An eastern cottonwood tree estimated to be more than 100 years old is being cut down from the backyard of a Rochester Street home over concerns falling branches might damage nearbyproperties.

The tree is more than threemetres in diameter and stands about 35 metres tall. Itscanopy can be seentowering above properties fromseveral streets away.

The tree a Carolinian poplar species withheart-shaped leaves andpointed tips was planted around 1901 by the home's original builder and owner Michael Doherty, who was a CPR engineer, according to current ownerLynn Griffiths.

Most of the tree is in Griffiths's backyard on Rochester Street, buta small portion is on the property of neighbour David Maclaren, who lives behind her on Elm Street.

The two families therefore co-own the tree.

More than a tree

8 years ago

Duration 0:39

Lynn Griffiths says the century-old Eastern Cottonwood is part of the family.

'It's bittersweet'

Griffiths was feeling melancholy Tuesday,watching a worker place a sling, attached to a crane, around a large limb andbegin cutting through the gnarly bark with a chainsaw.

"It's bittersweet. It'slike part of the family," she said. "My wedding pictures were taken against it, my children's christening pictures were taken against it,so it's tough to see it go."

Over the years the Griffiths, who havelived in the house since 1980, hired arborists to examine and prunethe tree several times, twice "radically." Six years ago, as a precaution, she had wire cables attached to preventsections fromfalling and damagingproperty.

"I didn't want to see the tree go. I had really hoped we could save it, but I also didn't want to put neighbours in a position of risk," she said.

But Maclaren, whose parking areaand house back onto the tree, said a dead limbfell on his car in 2011 and caused"serious" damage to his car.

Planting a new tree

Over the last couple of years Maclaren said he hired different arborists to examine the tree and that they came to a consensus that it wasn't worth keeping.

"It's not dead but it's past its peak and it's failing, and given the age of it, it wasn't worth the risk," he said.

"I'm sad to see the tree go but happy that the process of getting rid of the tree is done. You have the danger of a tree 80 feet up in the air coming down on you."

Tree too dangerous, says co-owner

8 years ago

Duration 0:35

One of the old tree's owners says it was failing and in danger of falling on a neighbour

The tree removal processis slow but methodical, and should take about three days to complete.

Griffiths hopes to plant another treenear where the cottonwood is coming down. A local craftsman has offered to create a bowl from the harvested wood for her, and her sons will have tables made from some of it.

"I'd like to sort of honour the tree by reclaiming some of the wood," Griffiths said. "The tree is absolutely going to live on."